THE knifeman who stabbed to death six people in a frenzied attack at a Sydney mall has been named as 40-year-old Joel Cauchi.
The attacker, from Queensland, terrorised the busy shopping centre when he stabbed nine people, including a nine-month-old baby on Saturday.
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New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke said the man is believed to have come to New South Wales last month.
The police have spoken to his family, who are co-operating with the investigation.
He added: “As I had said last night, there is still to this point nothing that we have, no information we have received, no evidence we have recovered, no intelligence that we have gathered that would suggest that this was driven by any particular motivation, ideology or otherwise.
“We know that the offender in the matter suffers from mental health.
“We are continuing to work through the profiling of the offender but very clearly to us at this stage it would appear that this is related to the mental health of the individual involved.”
The male attacker had with dark hair and a beard and was seen wearing a Kangaroos outfit as he rampaged through the mall attacking at least 18 people with a large knife.
He came to NSW about one month ago and shortly after coming to Sydney, he took possession of a storage facility which police are now searching.
Assistant Commissioner Cooke said officers would continue combing through the shopping centre today while also looking for any vehicles linked to the incident.
“This was a very broad incident. There’s a lot of footage already out in the media depicting some of what has occurred.
“So people would understand this is a large crime scene. We need to deal with each and every aspect of that crime scene,” he said.
Cauchi was shot dead by “hero” police officer Amy Scott after he stabbed nine people including a baby in a pram.
Dramatic video showed the cop bravely sprint across the top level of the shopping center bravely chasing the assailant.
She was followed by two civilians hot on her heels, including one who was carrying a chair.
The inspector, who happened to be nearby when the attack happened, fired a volley of shots after the assailant turned on her and raised a knife.
She was then seen performing CPR on victims of the knife attack, as well as on the suspect, as she waited for backup to arrive and assist.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb commended the inspector’s efforts, telling reporters on Saturday: “She showed enormous courage and bravery, and she will process obviously that.”
A man named Jason Dockson said he followed Insp Scott through the shopping centre as she sprinted after the attacker, who was armed with a “big blade”.
He said: “If she didn’t shoot him, well, he would have kept going.
“He was on a rampage,” Kossyderrickent reports.
The mother of the injured tot was also stabbed and died trying to protect her child.
The baby was rushed to hospital in a critical condition last night for emergency surgery.
Police provided an update on her condition this morning
“We understand baby Harriet stabilising this morning. We understand that she underwent surgery and she remains in a serious but stable condition,” they said.
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